T. H. McCool & Co "Airograph printed" Crepe de Chine silk fabric length; 1914. Airograph printed crepe de chine. Plain off white material bordered with an 8.5 inch wide band of a multi-colored floral design on a black ground. 14 inch horizontal repeat. Design of wheat and flowers. Airograph work by The Decorus Manufacturing Company. The black border is significantly more stiff than the ground cloth, which is a semi-transparent plain weave.
T. H. McCool and Company is the successor firm, as of 1914, to Alfred K. Wright and Company; both companies in the business of converting silks (i.e. buying gray goods and having them printed or finished) factored by Passavant & Co. McCool had been connected with the Wright company for many years prior to taking it over. This donation encompassed examples of "airograph work" on various silks, said to be akin to products coming from Lyons, France. The airograph, or spray-print, or airbrushing, process was done by Decorous Manufacturing & Co of New York City. Acording to the Annual report on this donation, the machine used to create these designs was the first machine of its kind to be imported to the United States, and it was a gift.